u/Miserable-Hope-658

**TL;DR**: Free, browser-only viewer for Metasys SCT archives (`.dbexport`) and CCT controller files (`.caf`). Drop a file on the page, see everything inside. No install, no login, no internet required after first load.

**Live demo**: https://jmsboswell67-alt.github.io/dbexport-viewer/

**Source**: https://github.com/jmsboswell67-alt/dbexport-viewer (Apache 2.0)

## Why

A few years ago someone here asked *"Is there any way to open up a .caf file without a service tech?"* — top answer was *"Without a copy of CCT or PCT there is not much you can do."*

That sentence is true. It's also the wrong answer for everyone who already has the files. If you own the building, manage the facility, scoped a vendor change, took over from a previous contractor, or got handed an archive for an energy audit — you already have the file. You just couldn't read it.

Now you can.

## What it does

- **Reads `.dbexport`** — full hierarchy (Site → Engine → Trunk → Equipment → Points) with class labels, property names, and the controller's model / firmware / IP at a glance.

- **Reads `.caf`** — tells you the controller model, firmware version, every configured point and logic block.

- **Diffs two snapshots** — object-level and property-level. SCT doesn't have this. If your contractor changed things between visits and you have backups, you can see exactly what they touched.

- **Exports CSV/JSON** — points, schedules, alarms, trend logs, scoped to whatever you've selected. Open in Excel, share with a consultant, feed into your own analysis.

- **Bulk-fixes unbound references** — drop your `UnboundReferences.csv`, get pattern detection like *"6,348 refs point to a renamed ADX"*, click one button to produce a fixed `.dbexport` with the dead refs repointed. **Including** the gnarly `Base64Zip`-wrapped ones inside User Trees, Graphics, and Programming logic. SCT makes you fix those one row at a time. This makes it a single bulk operation.

- **"If I delete this point, what graphics break?"** — indexes every Metasys binding from every graphic in the archive. Drop in a dbexport, see exactly which graphics reference any given point.

Tested against a real-world archive (109 graphics, 12,271 objects, 17 engines): repoint feature transformed **7,538 dead `DACC-ADX-01:` refs to `DACC-ADX-02:` in 30 seconds**. Graphics view indexed 92 graphics with 930 bound points in another ~5 seconds. Everything in-browser.

## How it works

Single HTML file, ~210 KB, runs entirely client-side. JSZip handles the unzip. Every parse happens locally — your file never leaves your machine. Works offline after the page loads.

The class and attribute dictionaries (249 classes, 276 properties) were extracted from JCI's publicly-distributed Launcher resource bundles and the SMP/SCT Help PDFs — factual ID→name mappings only, not their code or files. Standard interop reference work (Sega v. Accolade / Feist v. Rural / EU Software Directive Art. 6 territory).

## What it can't do (yet)

- **Render graphics**. We extract the bindings but don't draw the symbols. Both the XAML and TSEGraph schemas would each need a real renderer.

- **Edit object structure**. The repoint feature does prefix substitution only — no add/delete/rewire.

- **Decode every property**. About 5 attribute IDs that account for ~25,000 occurrences in a typical archive (3135, 4306, 721, 52, 931) aren't in any JCI public document — they're runtime-only. We show them honestly as "Property NNNN" rather than guess.

- **Talk to live engines**. Read-only against files you already have. No BACnet polling, no REST API client, no risk to your live system.

## What would help most

1. **Try it with your archive and tell me what's wrong**. The `references/inventory_unknowns.py` script in the repo scans a `.dbexport` and reports every unknown class/property ID. Paste output in an issue and the names get baked in.

2. **Live engine enum captures** if you've got SMP or SCT online access. Specifically `GET /api/v6/schemas/enums/<setName>` for about a dozen documented enum sets (`reliabilityEnumSet`, `unitEnumSet`, `jciSystemStatusEnumSet`, `writePriorityEnumSet`, `displayPrecisionEnumSet`, `objectCategoryEnumSet`, `auditOriginAppEnumSet`, `auditClassesEnumSet`, `auditActionTypeEnumSet`...). One curl per set. Paste responses in an issue and we close the enum-decoding gap for the whole community.

3. **CCT logic-block class IDs**. If you have CCT installed, about 30 class IDs in `.caf` files have no public name (526, 528, 530, 555, 556, 561, 568, 658-660 etc.). Open a sample `.caf`, tell me what kind of block each is, I'll add them.

4. **Sample archives** — different firmware versions, oddball controllers, sites with non-college load profiles. Diversity helps the heuristics improve.

5. **Cross-vendor extension** — the architecture maps to Tridium Niagara, Siemens Desigo, Honeywell EBI. If any of those are your world and you want to fork or contribute, open an issue.

6. **Just kick the tires and report bugs**. Especially graphics from different generations, obscure property data types, anything that fails to load.

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*Not affiliated with Johnson Controls. Metasys, SCT, CCT, ADX, NAE, NCE, SNE, and FEC are trademarks of Johnson Controls, used here for descriptive interoperability reference only.*

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